Are you responsible for a software development team? Is your team an Agile
development team?
Have you ever had a difference of opinion with your team? Or even a
full-blown argument?
Were you by any chance discussing an important deadline? The world of business
is full of deadlines. But deadlines don't necessarily compute for an Agile team
But there may be a way for both sides to get what they need. Hi, this is Gary.
Welcome to Development that Pays. Picture the scene: a small conference room at the BBC in
White City. In attendance: the development team,
an Agile coach, and a business manager
The subject of discussion: a new website for BBC Worldwide
My memory of the first part of the meeting is hazy. But I have a very clear
recollection of what happened after the business manager asked this question:
"When will the website be finished?"
It was clear he wasn't looking for an answer like "Next spring"
He was looking for a date
We turned to our Agile coach for the official answer
But Mr Agile refused to answer the question Mr Business was taken aback. "Really?"
Surely we had some idea. After all the people in the room had previously built several
similar websites. If anyone knew how long it would take to create a website very like
the ones we'd already built
it was the people sitting in the room But Mr Agile would not be moved. He could not and
indeed would not commit to a date
Mr Business was incredulous. Didn't we realise that launching a website is
a bigger thing than just building a website. Editors need to be hired. Copy needs
to be authored. Launch partners need to be engaged. We absolutely need a date!
But Mr Agile would not be moved. The rest of us sat in silence staring at our shoes
The argument between Mr Business and Mr Agile troubled me
And not just because it was toe-curlingly awkward. Here's my dilemma
I agreed with Mr Business. I could see that there was a need for a launch date
I also agreed with Mr Agile
Launch deadlines on the Agile approach don't really mix
Can the two really co-exist? At the time wasn't sure that they could. But now I think
maybe that they can. Let's take a look
I don't know much about Mr Business' background but it's not much of a
stretch to say that he was used to working to deadlines. He did after all
work for a major broadcaster. Programmes go out at specific times on specific dates.
There is zero flexibility on time. So he's used to projects that start slowly and ramp up
and no doubt ramp up rather crazily right before the broadcast date
That's a graph of effort. What about the graph of value? More specifically
customer value. Well for almost all of the project the value to the customer is zero.
It's only towards the end of the project that all of the elements come together to
create a programme
What about an Agile project?
Well, it might be a while before anything worthwhile can be released, so the line goes along
at zero for a while. But it's not long until something is released. A very
bare-bones website for example
To be clear: I'm not suggesting that a bare-bones website is released to the
public. But at this point - and at any point after this - we have something that
could be released to the public
At this early stage the potential customer value - let's call it that - would be low. Say 10%
But this value increases as the team adds new features
One of the key tenants of Agile is to work on the most important features first. That is
the features that add the most customer value
As a result the value curve increases quickly as these high-value features are
added
We then enter a phase of diminishing returns as the low value features follow along
We've ended up with two very different value curves. But can we reconcile them? Can we
present a picture that both Mr Business and Mr Agile can live with?
Let's superimpose the lines
Clearly this is bad news: the launch is happening way too early
What about this case? Well the value level is up. But things are changing quickly. It would be tough
to predict the level of value on any particular date. What about here?
This really is the sweet spot. And not just because the level of customer value is high
The curve here is almost flat, meaning that the level of customer value is
changing slowly. In words that Mr Business would understand, the risk of
launching in this period is high
whereas the risk of launching in this period is low
Mr Agile would never have committed to finishing the website on a specific date
But he could have drawn a fairly accurate value curve. And Mr Business could have used it to fix a launch date
Where there was conflict that could have been harmony
Talk to you next time